Title: Castaways 3/16
Author: Gileswench
Spoilers: Through Older and Far Away
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. Praise abjectly sought.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc., etc., etc. I just let them have all the fun Joss won't. I own nothing except my twisted mind which you really don't want. Please don't sue.

Buffy and Giles eventually returned to their seats to wait out the ride. Since neither had any ingredients for a counterspell there really wasn't much else they could do.

Now that the immediate panic was over, both relapsed into their earlier brooding.

At last the plane began to descend. Buffy and Giles looked out their respective windows, curious to see what their destination might be. Giles spotted the isle first. When he pointed it out to Buffy, she looked distinctly nervous.

"That's it? It looks kinda...tiny. Is there room for a whole plane on there?"

"You haven't flown much, have you?" Giles asked.

"Only a couple times."

"I can assure you that when we get a bit closer, it will be clear that the plane will fit. It may be a small island, but it's a relatively small plane as well."

"Do you think anyone will find us there?"

"I think we'd best work on the assumption that they won't find us for some time, at any rate."

"Great. That's just what I needed to hear."

The pair lapsed into silence as the plane made its final descent and landed with a heavy bump on the shore of the tiny isle.

"Trust Ethan to make sure I bruise my tailbone into the bargain," Giles muttered as he unbuckled his seatbelt. He looked up to see Buffy rubbing her elbow. "Are you alright, Buffy?"

"Yeah. Just...I should have known Ethan would make this hurt more than it has to."

Giles bit back a small smile at the coincidence and headed to the door of the plane. No stairs. No ladder. No way down there. He headed for the emergency exit and followed the instructions for opening it. Nothing happened. Damn Ethan. No doubt the sorcerer had sabotaged that as well. He returned to the door and looked out in frustration. He felt rather than heard Buffy's approach.

"So how do we got off of this ride?" Buffy asked.

"I suppose we could jump. You might even make it without injury, but I would most likely break my neck."

Buffy peered out the door to calculate her chances.

"I've jumped that far before. Heck, I've jumped further."

Giles flinched. When he saw her prepare to leap, he grabbed her arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

"Getting off this damn plane, already."

She wrested her arm free. Giles stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked sullenly at the floor. Buffy folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"What now?" she demanded. "What did I do wrong this time?"

"Nothing."

"So nothing is why you grabbed me?"

"I'm sorry, Buffy," he told her evenly, "but we need to find a safer way to get down."

"I'd be plenty safe, Giles. Heck, you could throw the luggage down after me and I could make a sort of soft place for you to land so you don't kill...oh."

She looked down, unable to even look at him. They studied the floor for some time. At last, Buffy spoke again.

"I promise this isn't about getting dead again. Twice is plenty for pretty much anybody, if you ask me. I'll be okay if I do this, and we have to get off the plane somehow. I just...I didn't think. I didn't know you saw...so would I have gotten a gold medal for that swan dive?"

"What you got was a wooden box. I really don't care to see the instant replay."

"Jumping was your idea this time, remember?"

"Well I've changed my mind."

Buffy snorted in frustration.

"So we're just going to sit here until we're rescued or we turn into mummies? Is that it? Great. I can't tell you how excited I'm not about this plan."

"There has to be another way."

"Well I don't see one."

"Of course not. You never see any way except your own, do you?"

"My way *was* the other way. Your way was to kill my sister."

"I didn't want Dawn to die any more than you did."

Buffy shook her head.

"That's not true. You were willing to sacrifice her. I wasn't."

"I hoped we wouldn't have to sacrifice anyone."

"Well, it's over now. And Dawn and I are both alive. Let's forget it and get off this damn plane."

With that, Buffy knelt in the doorway with her hands holding the edge and her feet facing out. She let herself drop over the side with her fingers still holding the doorway. She took a deep breath and let go. The drop was still several feet, but not dangerous anymore. She stood back and looked up at Giles.

"See? I'm still here. Get our bags and toss 'em down."

It took him several trips to the luggage area to comply with Buffy's orders, but at last he threw down the final bag and jumped the same way Buffy had. Not having Slayer abilities, he hit the ground at a bad angle and fell over. When he opened his eyes, Buffy stood over him.

"You okay?"

"I think my pride has taken a potentially fatal blow, but I'm otherwise unscathed."

Giles sat up and dusted himself off. Buffy extended a hand and helped him to his feet. As soon as he was standing, she let go and started picking up bags.

"Where do you think we're going, Buffy?"

She shrugged.

"Elsewhere, I guess. We can't just stay here."

"It might be a good idea to stay near the plane."

"Why?"

"Because," Giles patiently explained, "if we're to be rescued, it will probably be because somebody spots the plane from either a ship or another plane."

"How are they gonna spot it?"

"It's large, shiny, and not something that ought to be here...wherever here might be."

"Giles, look around you. Beach, white sand, silver plane, face it: we could be here a while. Now if there was some smoking wreckage, somebody might see that."

"Sorry I couldn't provide some for you. Next time I'll tell Ethan to have us crash land."

"Fine. Stay with the plane. I'm gonna look for someplace that seems a bit more homey."

Giles looked about himself. He had to admit there wasn't much to recommend the beach as a place to set up camp. There was no fresh water, no food supply unless there were crabs under all that sand, and no shelter other than the plane itself. He picked up some of his bags.

"Alright. Let's find someplace homey."

*****

Less than an hour later, they found the perfect place. It was a clearing among the palm trees and various bushes. There was a stream with a small waterfall nearby which would provide fresh water, and some of the bushes and vines appeared to have fruit on them. If they weren't stranded, Giles mused, the spot would be fairly romantic. The only thing lacking was actual shelter.

Buffy dropped her bags and looked around herself.

"I guess this is it until we get found. Home, sweet home."

"Yes, I rather think this will do," Giles agreed. "All we need now is some sort of place we can sleep and such. It's a pity the Council got us hotel rooms or I might have brought a tent with me."

"Hotel rooms? The tweed brigade was actually gonna pay for something on this trip?"

"Shocking, I know, but true."

"So if you're not all set to Robinson Crusoe, what did you bring?"

"What I expected I would need. Clothes, a few books, the usual."

"I don't think you took this much with you to that retreat in Breakers' Woods. Y'know, you still pack like me."

Giles scanned the area of their campsite with appraising eyes.

"Perhaps we can create some sort of shelter from palm fronds," he suggested.

"Smooth segue, Giles," Buffy grumbled. "Or we could just sleep under the stars. That might be okay."

"What if it rains?"

"Giles, check out this sky! Do you see a single cloud? I don't. It's not gonna rain."

"You seem awfully determined in this."

"It's getting late. And it's been a long day. I just want to get some rest."

"Well I don't know about you, but I like a roof of some sort over my head. I'd also like something to eat. As you said, it's been a long day."

"Sadly, though, there is a distinct lack of restaurants in the area."

Giles smiled wryly.

"Ah, but the Cafe Rupert is always open."

He opened a bag and rummaged around. When his hand returned to view, he held a bag of potato chips and some beef jerky.

"It's a bit dodgy nutritionally, but it'll keep us going until we can find something better among the local flora."

He opened the chips and offered the bag to Buffy. She shook her head.

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? You haven't eaten in quite a while."

Buffy shrugged and sat down among the luggage.

"Still not hungry."

Giles looked her over with a critical eye.

"Well you still need to eat something. You've lost too much weight. You're beginning to look like the girl in that dreadful show about the lawyers. Ally McBall or something, is it?"

"Ally McBeal," she corrected. "I guess I should be impressed. That was an actual American pop culture reference."

"This isn't a joke, Buffy. You're too thin by half. I'm concerned for your health."

"So you're going to feed me potato chips?"

"I might have an apple left if you prefer that."

"What is it with you and the nibbling, anyway?" Buffy asked. "Ever since I met you, you're always munching on something, but you never seem to get fat. Why is that?"

"The munching or my svelte figure?" he grinned. When she merely glared in his direction, he sobered and answered. "I never knew when I might have the opportunity to eat back then. Or sleep. I took quite a few catnaps in my office after a night of research. And I missed so many meals that snacking was the only way to keep myself fed. I simply got in the habit of having a piece or two of fruit or a bag of crisps on hand. It was that or starvation sometimes."

"I even caught you with lollipops once in a while."

"Generally courtesy of Willow, as I recall. She'd a tendency to drop them out of her backpack, so I would commandeer them. It was a convenient way to solve the problem of occasional low blood sugar."

"She usually brought them for Xander."

"I suspected as much. She was rather taken with him then, as I recall."

"Yeah, pretty much the only person who didn't know was Xander. That's gotta suck. Being in love with someone who won't notice you're there."

Giles rooted around in his bag until he found the last apple he'd spoken of. He handed it to Buffy.

"Here. Eat. No arguments."

Buffy rolled her eyes, but one look at the expression on Giles' face told her not to protest. She took a half hearted bite. She was surprised when the fruit actually tasted good to her. By the time she'd swallowed a couple bites, her stomach began to feel oddly hollow and she realized how long it had been since she'd eaten a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast. She began to wolf down the apple until a gentle hand stayed her.

"Slowly, Buffy. You'll make yourself sick."

She swallowed and looked at him curiously.

"How did you know?"

"That you've been on a near starvation diet? The fact that you look half starved was something of a clue."

"Kinda hard to work up much enthusiasm for another Doublemeat Medley after a while."

"Doublemeat...? What are you doing eating in a greasy fast food place so often you're sick of it?"

"Working. Being independent like you told me."

Giles was shocked at the sullen resentment in her tone.

"Well, it's a start, I suppose, until you can find something better."

"Actually, it's a career. They don't want short timers. If no vamps kill me for a while, I might get my five year badge. Maybe even my ten year."

"They must be paying you well."

Buffy shrugged.

"Minimum wage. If I'm really good and don't make any more scenes, I might get a nickel raise in six months. That is, if I get back to civilization in time to keep my job."

"Scenes? What sort of mischief have you been up to?" he cajoled her. At least throwing a scene sounded like the Buffy he knew.

"I went a little nuts when I thought the secret ingredient was people. It wasn't. People, I mean. Turns out the secret ingredient in Doublemeat burgers is beef fat to flavor the veggie burgers. Oh, and you didn't hear that from me, by the way."

"So you know their dark secret and you're working for them for minimum wage?"

"Well, it pays some of the bills, anyway."

"I can't imagine it pays them all."

"There's still a little bit left from that check you gave me. That goes to pay the mortgage next month. And Dad sent a little money at Christmas. That paid off one of the credit cards. Until I had to use it again. We're making it."

"Not very well, by the sound of it."

Buffy stood and tossed the apple core into the foliage.

"I'm doing the best I can."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Well, you said it like that. Look, I don't want to argue. I just want to get some sleep."

Giles wiped the potato chip crumbs from his hands and stood. He moved to Buffy's side, looking straight ahead, hands in his pockets in a typical Giles stance.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I really didn't mean to belittle your efforts. What I was trying to say is that the Buffy I know is capable of so much more."

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do."

"I can't believe that. You've faced so much adversity in your life, Buffy, and you've always come back fighting. What changed?"

Buffy pulled off her jacket and wadded it into a makeshift pillow. She lay down and closed her eyes before she answered.

"Look, I'm tired. Good night, Giles."

Giles sighed and rubbed his neck in frustration. Unfortunately, when Buffy closed a conversation that firmly, he knew from experience there was nothing to be done. He rummaged through another bag, found a jacket, and draped it over Buffy so she would have some covering from the elements. Then he lay down beside her and tried to sleep.

*****

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